Moses nichols



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MOSES NICHOLS, OF NEWBURG, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO F. W. SIMSON, OF SAME PLACE.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 247,512, dated September 27, 1881.

Application filed March 2, 1881.

To all whom "it may concern Be it known that 1, Moses NIoHoLs, of Newburg, in the county of Orange and State of New York, have invented an Automatic Railroad-Oar Coupling, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a car-coupling which is simple, strong, reliable, adaptable to all cars, and self-closin g when cars are pushed together for coupling, one of the cars to be provided with a coupling-link, which belongs to it, to make the coupling complete, the uncoupling to be done by a rod connected to the end of the coupling-lever, which can be easily handled either from the platform or from the top of the car, according to the kind of car to which it is attached.

To give a more perfect description of the construction of the several parts of the coupling,Irefertotheannexeddrawings,inwhich- Figure 1 represents a horizontal section through the draw-head of the coupling. Fig. 2 is a front view. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the coupling. Fig. 4 showsa side view of the coupling-lever; Fig. 5, a cross-section of the bar and a side view of the hook.

O 0 represent the end piece of the framing of the car; D, the strong cast-iron draw-head, which is held by heavy wrought-iron rods 0' r to the framing of the car. This draw-head has on the front a mouth-piece, which widens some on its upper side and by far more downward, as shown in Fig. 3, M being the upper part and N the lower part. Sidewise the mouth is little wider than the link L, which is used for coupling the cars. On the lower side of the body of the draw-head I) is a slot, into which is fitted a heavy wrought-iron bar, B, this bar to be pivoted on one of the brace-rods r, or on a separate bolt in a suitable place. The bar B has forged on it a hook, 7a, projecting upward in a place occupying the exact center of the (Model.)

draw-head or of the mouth, and the front face of the hook h is rounded backward, so that when a link, L, is pushed against the hook in the mouth of the draw-head the link will slide up on the face of the hook it, and, striking against the upper side of the head, will push the hook it down until the end of the link will find room to slide over the hook into the space behind. A steel spring, S, fastened to the lower edge of the draw-head, bears under the lower side of the bar B to keep it up in its position, and as soon as the link L is pushed behind the hook it the action of the spring S locks the hook behind the link, so that the link cannot be withdrawn. The bar B has two projections, p p, on the upper side to catch behind the solid part of the draw-head on each side of the link and to increase the width of the bar, which will increase its resistance from twisting when heavy loads pull on the hook it when coupled to other cars. The arm B of the bar B, out side of the eye, fitting on the rod 7', which is longer than the end with the hook h, reaches nearly to the side of the car and serves to balance the bar B, so that the overweight will be on the side of the arm B, and it serves also to nnhook the coupling. A rod, H, is hooked in the eye F, to reach this lever B from the platform or from the top of the car, and on pulling the arm F up the hook h will be pulled down, and the released link L can slip from the drawhead.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The pivoted coupling-bar B B, with the hook it and projections 19 p, in combination with the draw-head D, spring S, rod H, and link L, substantially and for the purpose as specified.

MOSES NICHOLS.

Witnesses:

J. W. GEREGKE, F. W. SIMsoN. 

